Psychogeist

Although progressive rock reached its commercial peak in the '70s, it didn't disappear after the '70s — and when the mid-2000s arrived, prog rock continued to enjoy an enthusiastic cult following. The prog rock experience of the 21st century not only included listening to familiar '70s recordings by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, and King Crimson — it also meant being hip to the younger prog bands that surfaced in the '90s and 2000s. And some of those younger bands favor a heavy metal/progressive rock blend, which is what Age of Nemesis does on Psychogeist. This Hungarian outfit, which was formed in 1997, certainly isn't the only band that has combined old-school metal and prog rock in the '90s and 2000s — there are many others, but Age of Nemesis does it more skillfully than most. And they do it with a variety of '70s and '80s influences that range from Rush, ELP, and Yes to Ronnie James Dio, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Iron Maiden, and Dream Theater. Psychogeist isn't groundbreaking or terribly original, but it is nicely crafted, extremely listenable, and quite focused. Age of Nemesis is a highly melodic band, and their melodies are consistently appealing on this early 2006 release. Thankfully, lead singer Zoltan Kiss has no problem expressing himself in perfect English; he is never hard to understand, and much of the time, he sounds like he grew up in a country where English — not Hungarian — is the primary language. Fans of metal/prog rock fusion will find a lot to enjoy about this pleasing, if derivative, effort.